Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Catch of the Day ❯ Chapter 11

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

CATCH OF THE DAY: Chapter Eleven

Disclaimer: Don't own anyone but Kage-chan, Ocarina, and Olenji (Japanese for orange, the fruit, not the color).


"Like I said, there's nothing I can do for Vegeta, but I'm pretty sure I can save the baby," Gohan said in a low voice, for once grateful for all of the things his mother had made him learn. At one point she had tried to teach him to be a doctor, and that was paying off right now.
He, Trunks, and Chi-Chi had gone off to a corner to talk, leaving Goten sitting by Vegeta's side, Kage-chan curled up in his lap.
"The only problem is that saving her might kill him," he continued.
"He's already dying," Trunks said softly, looking numb. "Do what you can for my sister."
Gohan nodded and turned back toward his brother and Vegeta.
...
Vegeta was too badly hurt to keep his mental shields up. Goku's emotions flooded through his mind, dragging him from unconsciousness. He could clearly feel the other Saiyan's guilt and fear. And his desperate desire to just give up and die.
Vegeta managed to break contact with Goku and reached out for Goten's mind. The boy was sitting right beside him, so he was able to send actual thoughts. //Koneko...you're father...is about...to kill himself.... Stop him.//
Goten jerked slightly, staring down at the supposedly unconscious man lying on the bed beside him. He frowned as he realized he had heard him in his head. He glanced over at his mother, Gohan, and Trunks, then concentrated on the voice he had heard. //Vegeta?//
//You have...to stop...him,// he said, his mental voice sounding weak.
//Why do you care? Why would you want him to live after what he's done?//
//Heh. Save him...so I can...kill him once...my power level...goes back to...normal. Besides,...none of this...is truly his...fault, and I still...consider...him a friend.//
//I'll do what I can,// Goten promised. Then he gasped as unbelievable pain shot through his body. He felt like one massive bruise, and his ribs seemed to be shattered. Breathing was excruciating because his lungs felt like they had been shredded along with a few other organs.
The pain vanished suddenly replaced by a feeling of apology. Then Vegeta was gone from his mind, the pain driving him down to unconsciousness again.
Kage-chan was still curled up in his lap, so he lifted the sleeping kitten and gently placed her by Vegeta's side. He stood up just as the others finished talking, Gohan coming towards him with a slightly grim look.
"Dad's trying to kill himself again."
Gohan blinked and just stared at him blankly for a second. "We have to stop him somehow. I'm not to happy with him right now, but he's still our father."
Goten nodded. "Yeah. I'm going to try to stop him. Stay here and take care of Vegeta. Don't let him die."
Gohan watched as he left. "I'll try my best, little brother, but I don't think it will be good enough."
...
Goku stood by the side of a cliff, slowly gathering his power and aiming it inward. Tears streaked down his face, sobs wracking his entire body. He could feel Vegeta's life force slowly draining away, stubbornness the only thing keeping the other Saiyan alive.
//And it's all my fault,// Goku thought miserably. //How could I have done that? What's happening to me? I have to end things now, before I hurt anyone else. Why did you have to stop me last time, Vegeta? Why? If you hadn't, you wouldn't be dying right now.//
"I'm so sorry, Vegeta," he sobbed brokenly. He could feel the power building up inside of him, slowing burning him.
"If you really are, then stick around so you can make it up to him once you're completely back to normal," Goten's voice suddenly said from behind him.
Goku whirled to look at his youngest son. "Goten, what are you doing here?"
"I know what you're doing, and I've come to stop you."
"Why?"
"Because Vegeta asked me to," Goten said softly. "You hurt him pretty badly, Dad. If Piccolo doesn't get Dende there soon, he's going to die. But he cares about you, and he sent me to stop you."
"No. It's better this way," Goku said sadly, starting to raise his power level even more. He dropped to his knees and gave a gasp of pain as his own power started eating at him from the inside.
The next thing he knew, Goten had come over to him and delivered a stinging slap across his cheek. "Don't do this, Dad. Right now I'm mad enough to kill you myself, but Vegeta cares about you. He wants you to live. Even after all you've done to him recently, he still considers you a friend. He's never had very many of those."
With Goten standing this close, he could suddenly smell Vegeta's scent all over him. Anger flared through him at the thought of Goten touching the other full-blooded Saiyan.
The anger frightened him, triggering an instinctive fight or flight reaction. Ironically, if he hadn't fought his instincts, his reactions would have been much less severe. His body produced excess adrenaline, driving his sanity away and leaving him not much more than a snarling beast.
Goku lunged at Goten, slamming into the boy and pinning him to the ground. "If he considers me so much of a 'friend', why do you get touch him when I don't?!" he snarled.
"Maybe because I don't try to force myself on him then beat the shit out of him when he won't let me!!" Goten yelled, rolling them both until he straddled his father's chest.
Goten moved his arm back and threw a brutal punch in his face, connecting with a thud.
"You're going to pay for that, brat!" Goku spat. He shoved Goten off of him and began a bloody battle against his own son.
...
Somewhere in his mind, Vegeta could feel them fighting, the fact that they were fighting over him setting off the two partial bonds he had. Pain flared through his mind, dragging him from the depths of unconsciousness.
He instinctively tried to jerk away from the pain in his mind, only to reawaken the agony in his body. He gasped for breath, the sudden intake of air tearing at his already badly damaged lungs. He started coughing up blood again, his body spasming as it desperately tried to get air.
"Damn it!!" Gohan yelled, going over to Vegeta and trying to hold him still. One of his ribs that had only been cracked rather than broken snapped and was driven down toward his middle.
Gohan cursed again. At this point it was very unlikely that Dende would come in time. Vegeta was more or less dead, but there was still a chance for the baby.
Gohan grabbed a scalpel and lifted Vegeta's large t-shirt, setting the blade against the thin red line going horizontally across his abdomen. With Trunks, that line had gradually split open, along with the top of the male Saiyan version of a uterus, forming a sort of pouch.
Gohan sliced through and then cut into the uterus, hissing slightly when he saw that the rib that had just broken had been driven into it. Blood poured from the Saiyan prince, pooling onto the bed and slowly dripping to the floor.
He slipped his hands in and carefully got a hold of the baby, wincing as he realized the bone had stabbed into her arm. He maneuvered her away from it and removed both her and the placenta.
The last thing Vegeta heard before his tortured lungs gave up the fight to keep him alive was a baby loudly crying.